1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to on-premises paging and communication systems. More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant communication system and method that utilizes communication devices mounted one each table in the restaurant, each communication device having a data input device through which a customer identifier number may be input to the communication device.
2. Description of Related Art
Many restaurants use a service method in which customers order their food at a central service counter, and then select their own table where they sit and wait for their food to be prepared. The customers may give their names to a server at the central counter, or the server may give each customer a number that will be called when the customer""s food is ready. In either case, when the food is ready, a public address (PA) system is used to call out the name or number of the customer whose food is ready. The called customer then proceeds to the central counter and picks up his food. A disadvantage of the central service counter method is that many noisy PA system announcements must be made within the restaurant, thereby making the restaurant a less pleasant place to eat.
In other restaurants, customers must wait in a waiting area for a table to become available before they can sit down and order their food from a waitperson. Some of these restaurants utilize an on-premises paging system to alert waiting customers when their table is available. When the customer first arrives at the restaurant, he is given an on-premises pager by the receptionist who then enters the code number of the pager into the on-premises paging system. When the table is available, an on-premises paging transmitter pages the customer""s pager with the proper code number, and the customer is alerted. A disadvantage of this paging method is that customers sometimes leave the restaurant before their table is ready, and they take their assigned pager with them. The loss of such pagers can be very expensive to the restaurant.
Some restaurants using the central service counter method have also attempted to utilize on-premises pagers to alert customers when their food is ready rather than using the noisy PA system. While this approach has been successful at lowering the noise level, it still suffers from the disadvantage that expensive pagers are lost.
In still other restaurants, the customer orders his food at a central service counter, and is given some sort of identifier such as a number or letter printed on a block or other device. The customer selects a table, places the identifier on his table, and waits for his food to be prepared. When the food is ready, a server from the restaurant brings the food to the table rather than requiring the customer to return to the central service counter to pick it up. However, this is a very inefficient process because the server must wander through the restaurant until he sees the proper identifier on a customer""s table. When the restaurant is crowded, this can take a considerable amount of time. In addition, the process is unnerving for the customer who sees a server wandering around with a food order, but does not know whether the order is his. The customer may think that the order is his, and the server just does not see his identifier. This is made even worse when the food order is what the customer ordered, but it is actually intended for someone else. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have an on-premises communication system for restaurants with central service counters that solves these problems. The present invention provides such a system.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an on-premises restaurant communication system for communicating an identifier for a customer""s table to a central service counter. The system may include means in the central service counter for encoding a data token with a customer identifier number that is provided to the customer when the customer places a food order. The system also includes a communication device mounted on the customer""s table. The communication device includes a data memory that stores the table identifier; data input means for inputting the data token and extracting the customer number therefrom; and a communication transmitter that transmits a message containing the table identifier and the extracted customer number. The central service counter includes a communication receiver that receives the message and extracts the customer number and the table identifier therefrom; and a user interface that receives the extracted customer number and table identifier from the communication receiver and informs a food server of the table identifier for the customer""s table. The food server can then deliver the customer""s food order without wandering around the restaurant looking for an identifier.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a restaurant communication device that includes means for mounting the device on a table in the restaurant; means for storing a table identifier; and means for receiving a customer number from a customer. The device also includes means responsive to receiving the customer number, for sending a message that includes the table identifier and the customer number to a central service counter.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of providing a table location where a particular customer is sitting to a food server located at a central service counter in a restaurant having a plurality of tables. The method includes the steps of mounting a communication device on each of the plurality of tables in the restaurant; storing a unique table identifier for each of the plurality of tables in the communication device mounted on each table; and providing the particular customer with a data token on which a customer number is encoded. After the customer selects a table, the method includes reading the particular customer""s customer number with a data input device at a particular communication device mounted on the selected table; and sending a message from the particular communication device to the central service counter in response to reading the particular customer""s customer number. The message includes the unique table identifier and the particular customer""s customer number. The central service counter extracts the unique table identifier and the particular customer""s customer number from the received message; determines a table location from the extracted table identifier; and provides the food server with the table location for the particular customer.